Moon's Labyrinths

Udocus extended his hand and shot forth a stream of water shaped like a large snake. A massive amount of water pressure tried to crush everything in its path.

“Hoo-ahhhhhp!”

Tim let out a shout as he blocked the water snake with his shield.

Puh-uh-uhng!

The water snake couldn’t pierce through Tim’s shield and lost its momentum. It then lost its shape and fell, flooding the nearby region. However, since it was only regular water, Tim was fine despite being submerged.

“Haha! Is that all you got? Are you really an officer for Grenoid? You're too weak!”

Tim yelled.

“I feel sorry for our people on the outside! They are fighting with their lives on the line, yet I’m having a leisurely time fighting this pushover!”

Of course, unlike what Tim had said, Udocus wasn’t an easy opponent. If they had been fighting a one-on-one battle, Tim would have lost his life. However, right now, the battle was going just too easy for the party.

“You...You bastard!”

Udocus yelled louder as he simmered with anger. He again raised his staff to deliver justice to the pleb who didn’t know his place. However, Grace was a step faster. A light appeared in her hand.

As soon as he saw the light, Udocus reflexively moved. Even though he was arrogant, he couldn’t underestimate Grace’s light magic. Twenty half-translucent walls appeared in front of him.

‘It shows up from time to time, and it worries me.’

Sungyoon furrowed his brows.

Udocus could quickly cast his spells, but he wasn’t instantaneous like Sungyoon. Nevertheless, there were times when Udocus used spells without much delay, and during these times, his spells were much stronger.

‘There must be some limitation.’

If there wasn't, Udocus would use his stronger spells that took less time to cast.

Flash!

A beam of light erupted from Grace’s hand.

Puhhhhhhhhhhhhhng!

In a flash, the light beam destroyed thirteen of the half-translucent walls. As if that wasn’t enough, the beam of light continued to put pressure on the remaining walls.

“Koo-ooooooooh!”

Udocus desperately created a couple more barriers, but those barriers were obviously weaker than his previous barriers.

Ssssssk!

Thankfully for Udocus, the light magic disappeared before it could pierce through the last barrier. He was about to let out a sigh of relief when...

“You shouldn’t look so relieved.”

Kwahhhhhhng!

Sungyoon’s hammer crashed onto the last tattered wall. A large explosion erupted, and it broke apart the barrier.

“Kooh-ahhhhhhhk!”

Udocus’s body flew backward through the air. Sungyoon immediately followed Udocus, unsummoned his hammer and shield, and took up his halberd.

Tuhk!

The halberd’s hook caught Udocus’s robe. Sungyoon pulled back the hook and brought Udocus’s body to an abrupt halt. Udocus was like a fish caught on a fishhook. Sungyoon reeled him in as he once again raised his hammer with his other hand.

Kwahhhhhhhhng!

Was it just his feeling? This explosion felt larger than before. Udocus flew through the air with greater momentum and unceremoniously hit the ground.

However, the attacks had yet to end. Grace sent a fireball toward Udocus. Udocus desperately raised his staff. It seemed he was trying to use the spell with no delay, but nothing happened.

‘He has reached his limit.’

Sungyoon had a hunch as he watched Udocus flounder.

Kwahhhng!

The fireball scored a direct hit on Udocus, and the heat increased the temperature of the room.

“Phewwww~!”

The pleased Tim whistled.

As the smoke dispersed, the flame extinguished itself. Against such a spell, most living beings would have become a pile of ash several times over. However, Udocus was alive.

“He’s still alive?”

Tim frowned. Nevertheless, his face brightened when he saw Udocus's appearance. It seemed Udocus's robe was a good defensive gear, unlike what its flimsy appearance suggested. The robe was burnt and tattered, and Udocus looked like a gutter rat that had rolled in a pile of dust.

“Ggoooooh.”

Udocus moaned. One could sometimes catch sight of his hideous appearance through the damaged robe.

“He isn’t dead, but….”

Tim lowered his shield a little.

“I don’t think he can fight any longer.”

They had neutralized Udocus. The last officer of Grenoid being in such a sad state was almost unbelievable.

“Lowly… Lowly filth…”

Udocus sounded as if he were on death’s door. He kept repeating ‘lowly filth’ as he looked at Sungyoon and his party members even though he was beyond wretched and unsightly.

Of course, no one felt pity for Udocus. In fact, they felt the opposite.

Juh-buhk! Juh-buhk!

Sungyoon’s steps sounded like a countdown signaling Udocus’s death.

“Ke ke! Do you think you can save Earth if you kill me?”

Was it Udocus’s last-ditch effort? Udocus mocked Sungyoon.

“You want to return the Moon to its original trajectory? Yes, you would. Honestly, we didn’t plan on letting the Moon collide with Earth. However, this place has no method that’ll allow you to reverse what we did!”

Sungyoon came to a stop.

“Even if you go up after killing me, you won’t find what you want! You fought for nothing!”

Udocus's statement was what everyone related to this plan, including Sungyoon, had feared. It signaled that their gamble had failed.

Sungyoon resumed walking.

“We’ll check it out after we kill you.”

His hope hadn't died yet, and his eyes continued to burn with hope. He’d continue to hope until seeing despair with his own eyes.

Udocus ground his teeth when he saw the dark blue sword in his opponent's hand. He was the great Grenoid's last officer. How could he have thought that he would die such an ignominious death here? Prior to the battle, he had derided anyone offering their help in fighting Sungyoon and his party. Yet, he anxiously called out for help now.

“Sung Hyunwoo! Come out right now, Sung Hyunwoooooooooo!”

His yell sounded like a shrill.

Sungyoon and his party members became vigilant once again.

Juh-buhk! Juh-buhk!

They heard footsteps coming down the staircase.

If Sungyoon’s footsteps had sounded like a countdown, these new footsteps sounded like a symphony that maximized the tension.

“… Mr. Hyunwoo.”

Sungyoon spoke in a low voice as he watched Hyunwoo descend the stairs.

“It has been a while.”

Hyunwoo greeted him with a warm smile on his face. They were enemies, yet he had a very friendly smile on his lips.

“In the end, you reached this place. You really are amazing.”

It might just be a feeling, but Sungyoon felt as if Hyunwoo sounded happy.

“As expected of someone I...”

“Stop talking!”

Hyunwoo’s expression instantly crumpled. He looked like a little kid whose much-anticipated gift opening had been interfered with. It seemed Udocus hadn’t caught on. Even though he was almost breathless, his dirty attitude shone through as he shouted toward Hyunwoo.

“Kill those damned bastards!”

Hyunwoo looked at Udocus with a displeased expression.

“I offered you my help earlier, but you ignored it saying you can kill them on your own. Have some self-respect for yourself. Stop barking at me like that.”

“What…”

Hyunwoo’s abusive language struck Udocus dumb. Ignoring Udocus, Hyunwoo then turned to Sungyoon’s party with a laid-back attitude.

“However...”

Hyunwoo said as he stared at the party. To be precise, he stared at the three other than Sungyoon.

“I don’t need you guys.”

Ddahk!

Hyunwoo snapped his fingers, and a magic diagram instantly appeared below Grace’s feet.

“What…!”

This took Grace by surprise.

In a flash, the diagram expanded and encircled Tim and Emily, who stood next to Grace. The magical energy in the atmosphere thickened.

“Mr. Sung—”

Grace extended her hand toward Sungyoon, but the magic diagram activated before she could do anything.

Ssshooohk!

The magic diagram flashed, and Tim, Emily, and Grace disappeared from the room. Sungyoon, who had been standing a bit away from his party members, couldn't do anything.

The only ones left in the room were Sungyoon, Udocus, and Hyunwoo.

“… What did you just do?”

Instead of going on a rampage, Sungyoon just asked a question. However, one could hear the worry in his voice that he had done his best to suppress. Moreover, he was clearly angry at Hyunwoo, who had made his party members ‘disappear.’

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t harm them.”

In contrast to Sungyoon, Hyunwoo remained laid-back.

“I just expelled them from this room and sent them back to the labyrinth within the tower.”

Sungyoon relaxed a little. However, Udocus became apoplectic.

“H… How!”

Udocus asked in disbelief. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he considered this tower one of his masterpieces. Of course, he was the only one who should've been able to use the tower's functions. Yet, Hyunwoo had just expelled Sungyoon’s party members using the tower.

“How can you use the power of this tower?”

The first thought that came to Udocus's mind was that Hyunwoo had stolen the tower from him. Udocus had been sure that only he could use the power of this tower, so his pride had taken a big hit. However, he didn’t pay attention to his hurt pride. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to care about his wounds.

“Did you forget who was in charge of constructing this tower?”

In contrast to Udocus's emotional voice, Hyunwoo's voice was calm.

Udocus was dumbfounded.

“Did you change the tower's design? Nonsense! A mere human can’t easily change the design of my work!”

On top of that, Udocus hadn’t realized someone had changed his design. Hyunwoo stood on the monsters' side, but he was clearly human, and Udocus considered humans lesser beings. He felt a sense of superiority, so he couldn’t accept that a human had outmaneuvered him.

“A mere human… That's something you'd say… You wouldn’t have left the construction of this tower to me otherwise.”

Udocus had left the construction of the tower to Hyunwoo not because he trusted him but because he believed a lowly human should do the dirty work. It was thanks to his arrogance that he had made this choice. Udocus was also confident he could catch Hyunwoo in the act if Hyunwoo did anything suspicious.

“That was why you were outplayed.”

“Even if you built this tower, there is no way you would know the technique to change my design!”

Udocus continued to be in denial.

“Hey, you taught me how to do it.”

Udocus’s eyes furtively moved.

“I did?”

“Yes. You taught me about magic, magic diagrams, and the circulation of magical energy. You taught me the knowledge that was lost to the descendants of Planote.”

“No way! You changed my design with just that basic knowledge!”

“You also kept a lot of books. I read the books written by the people of Planote. It was enough.”

As if to emphasize it, Hyunwoo tapped his forefinger on his temple.

“I'm somewhat of a genius.”

His words left Udocus speechless. The feat pulled off by Hyunwoo was that ridiculous. At that moment, Udocus suddenly had a thought.

“Can it be? The Royal Gem wasn’t the one to bring them into this room?”

“Yes, I did it.”

Hyunwoo immediately confirmed his thoughts.